Streeterville's The St. Clair to launch sales in May

The St. Clair

The St. Clair at Cityfront Plaza, Centrum Properties‘ 41-story high-rise planned in Streeterville, will open sales May 12, according to a news release (the developer’s Web site announces a February 2007 opening, which appears to be old news).

The rendering above shows what the building, designed by DeStefano + Partners, will look like in context with some of its neighbors, the Tribune Tower and the Wrigley Building.

The St. Clair will have one-, two- and three-bedroom condos, penthouses and 46 “In-Town Suites,” which are like swanky hotel rooms – 682-square-foot furnished studios stocked with flat-screen TVs, linens and kitchenware, and with European instead of full kitchens. (There are “defined spaces for living and dining,” according to the release).These aren’t hotel condos, which allow owners to place their unit into a hotel’s rental pool when they’re not in residence – they’re strictly pieds-a-terre for owners to use. The price, starting in the high $300s, is meant to lure buyers who’d like to own a furnished room downtown, but who have the impression that hotel condos are expensive and hard to manage. Says Centrum senior vice president Jennifer Arons in the release: “This home is great for an overnight stay or as a weekend retreat, and it is all yours at half the price of a downtown hotel condominium.”

Hotel condos are generally pretty expensive, we found during our most recent look at downtown projects. The exception was The Raffaello Condominium Hotel, which had hotel condo units available starting in the $260s (that project was nearing a sellout in March). The other five active hotel condo developments we examined were priced roughly from the $500s into the $6 million to $7 million range. (Of course, hotel condo owners have the potential to make some of their money back by renting their units – but due to SEC rules developers shy away from promoting these homes as investments).

Pre-construction prices on the St. Clair’s condos start in the high $300s for one-bedrooms and top out at more than $3 million for a penthouse. The sales center will be located at 240 E Illinois St, Suite 100. Prospective buyers who’d like to get on a list before May 12 can visit www.CityFront Plaza.com.

The St. Clair is the second phase of the Cityfront Plaza development, following on the heels of The Fairbanks, a 31-story high-rise with lofts at the base. That building is currently about 80 percent sold, the release says.

Along with an as yet unnamed third building, which will be partly devoted to hotel rooms, the St. Clair and The Fairbanks will ultimately fill the block bounded by St Clair Street, Illinois Street, Columbus Drive and Grand Avenue. The retail portion of the development includes a Dominicks, a dry cleaners, a Chase branch and a Starbucks.

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